Greece To Seek ‘Millions’ From Germany As World War II Reparations

By on September 11, 2012 in Economy, News, Politics

Greece has set up a “working group” to scour historical archives and tally how much Germany might owe in outstanding reparations for Nazi war crimes during World War II, the finance ministry has announced.
Greece has said in recent years that it reserves the right to claim reparations worth an estimated $US7.5 million ($7.2 million), saying it was forced to accept unfavourable terms during negotiations in the 1950s.
“The matter remains pending,” said Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras. “Greece has never resigned its rights.”
Nonetheless, he called for a “realistic and cool-headed” approach to the prickly issue, which could further sour relations between Germany and Greece.
The four-member working group is expected to submit its report by the end of the year, the ministry said in a statement.
(source: AFP)

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  • ATKenos

    $7.2 million US??? Are you kidding? From what my late great gran and late gran said to me, their wealth alone, stolen by GERMANS from the National Bank of Greece, would be worth far more than that. Hellas lost almost 15% of the populations. Roads, bridges, rail lines, rail engines, cars and buses, hospitals, schools, factories, shops, farm land… and they are only seeking this petty amount??? Ask the hero of the Acropolis, a man who took the Nazi flag down at great risk to life. Ask him what he thinks.

  • Asjdakl

    I believe this should be “billions,” theres most likely a mistake here, from what I’ve read, it’s in the tens of billions something like 50-300 billion depending on whether interest is being included.

  • Anonymous

    Many Greeks hate the austerity (mostly leftist parasites) but Merkel is not to blame for this. This is our own fault for our precious adminstrations  spending too much money. We cannot expect a quality of life similar to Germans without earning it. Our lifestyle was achieved through credit not production. . She was in the moral right to expect cuts in exchange for funding (that lets not forget comes up of German taxpayer money)

    Thus I think this move is premature. Yes Germany owes billions to Greece (probably hundreds of billions once interest, inflation, and punitive damages are
    added in) However, the Greek government should be focused on building a
    relationship with Merkel not listening to populists. Only if  Merkel
    starts to listen to her own populists should this issue be brought up on a national level. If Germans are willing to forgive our mistakes we should be willing to forgive theirs. This is a morally consistent attitude. Lets not listen to either to populists in either Greece or Germany. Lets focus on restoring relations.

  • Cypriot

    $7.2 million is certainly wrong – it is far more than that! And who cares about Greece-Nazi relations?

  • Anonymous

     Germans are no more all “Nazis’ than Greeks are (see Golden Dawn). There are just populists in every country that practice demagoguery. As long as this isn’t encouraged on a state level we should not give into these voices. Merkel has been careful with her words even if some of the people around her haven’t. Samaras must do the same.